Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-01-21
text: "Soyne on broken pieces of the

ashore on that one plank. l do not un-
derIate the value of great theological
system, but where in all the Bible is there
anything that says: Believe In John
Calvin and thou shalt BE saved; or believe
in Arminius and thou shalt be saved; or
believe in the Synod of bort and thou
shalt be saved; or believe in the Thirty
nine Articles and thou shalt be saved!
A man may be orthodox and
GoToHELL,
or heterodoX and go to heaven. TIE man
VINO in the deep affection OF his heart ac-
cepts Christ is saved, ard the man who
does not accsrs Him is lost.
| believe in both the Heidelberg and
Westminster catechismS, and | wish you
all did, but you may believe in nothing
they contain except the one idea that
Christ came to save sinners, and that you
are one Of them, and you are instantly
rescued. If you can come in on the
grand old ship, / wcGld rather have you
get aboard, but if you can find OILY q
piece Of wood as long as the human body,
or q piece as wide as the Outspread human
arms, and either Of them is piece OF III.
cross, come in on that piece. Tens OF
thousands of people are to-day kept out
cNSe~N'SS
not believe everything.
l am talking with g man thoughtful
about his soul who has lately t.ayeled
through New England and passed the
night at Andovtr. He says TO me: 81
cannot believe that in this life the destiny
is irrevocably fixed; l think there will be
another opportunity of repentance If ct
death" | say to him: "My brother,
what has that to do with you? Don't you
realize that the man who waits for On.
other chance after death when he hes
good chance before death is stark fool?
Had not you better take the plank that is
thrown to you now and head for shore
rather than wait for plank that may by
invisible hands be thrown to you after
you are dead? Do as you please, but as
for myself, with pardon for all my sins Of
fered me now and all the joys OF time and
eternity offered me now, | instantly take
them rather than run the risk of sucn
other chance SIS wise men think
THEY CAN PEEL OFF
or twist out Of Scripture passage that
has for all the Christian centuries been
Interpreted another way.
You say: 81 do not like Princeton the
oiogy, or New Haven theology, or Ando-
yer lHtOLOSS. L uO AOL dsh y O1 OI cOdib
either OF these great men-of-wGT, their
port holes filed with the great siege
guns of ecclesiastical battle. But | do
ask you to take the one plank OF the Cos
pei that you do believe in and strike cut
for the pearl-strung beach of HeaTen.
Says some oth'r man: ~ would at
tend to religion if | was quite sure about
the doctrine OK election and free agency,
but that mixes lie all up" Those things
used TO bother me, but | have no more
perpleXity about them, for / say 10 my
self; of love Christ and live good,
honest, useful life, | am elected 10 be
saved; and if | DO not love Christ and
live 2 bad life, will be damned, aad al
the theological seminar. OF the universe
canno' make it any fferenG." / found
cred long time while in the sea OF sill and
doubt, and it was As rough rs the Med
i,eTranean on the fourteenth night when
they threw the grain overheard, but |
saw there was mercy for q sinner, and
that plank | took, and have been warm
ing myself by the bright fire on the shore
for three decades.
While I an talking to another man
about his soul he tells me: 81 do not be-
come Christian because do not believe
there is any hell at all" All don't you?
Do all the people, of all beliefs and no
belief ct all, of good morals and bad
morals, 90 straight to happy Heaven?
Do the holy and the debauched have the
same destinations? At midnight in hall
way the owner of house and 8 burglar
meet each other, and they both fire, and
both are woundtd d, but the burglar died
in five minutes and the owner of the
house lives a week after, will the burglar
be at
THE GATE OF HEAVEN
waiting when the HORSEPOWER comes in?
Will the debauchee and the libertine go
right in among the families of Heaven?
wonder ii HerOd is playing on the banks
of the River of Life with the children
he messacred. | wonder If Charles
Guiteau and John Wilkes Booth are up
there shouting at mark. | do not now
cOntrOvert it, although | must say that
for such a miserable heaven | have no Gd-
miraton. But the Bible does not say:
"Believe in perdition.and be saved" Be
cause al are saved, according to yuur
theory, that ought not to keep you from
loving aud serving Christ. Do not refuse
to come ashore because all the others &C
cordng to your theory, are going to get
ashore. You may have 2 different theory
about chemistry, about ASTRONOMY, about
The atmosphere, from that watch .othe rs
adopt, but you are not therefore hindered
from action. Because your theory of
light is different from others, do not re-
fuse to open your eyes. Because your
theory OF air is different you do not re-
fuse to breathe. Because your theory
10 -, Il
do not refuse to acknowledge the North /.
star. Why should the facs that your the /
illogical theories are different, hinder you /,
from acting upon WHIST you know? Il you .
nave not whole ship fashioned in the .
theological cry docks to bring you 20 .
wharfage, you have ct least plank: /
"Some on broken pieces of the ship" (
But l don't believe in revivals," .
Then 60 to your room, end all alone with .
your door locked give your heart to God .
and join some church where the Their
never gets higher tnan fifty IN
the shade. "But do not-believe in bap-
tism!" Come in without it and settle .
the matter afterward. "But there are so /
many inconsistent Christians" Then !
come in and show them by
A GOOD EXAMPLE
how professors ought to act. "But l .
don't believe IN the Old Testament"
Then come in on the New. "But don't .
like the Book of Romansi" Then come
in on Matthew or Luke. Refusing to
come to Christ, whom you admit to be
The Savior of the lost, because you can
not admit other things, ycu are
ike man out there in
hat Mediterranean tempest and
ossed in the Melita breakers, refusing to
come ashore until he can mend the pieces
Of the broken ship. hear him say: 81
won't go in on any of these planks until
know in what part of the ship they be-
ong When can get the windlass in